Week 1 Preview: Buffalo Bills v.s. Chicago Bears

Football is finally back! Week one for the Buffalo Bills features a road contest against a very formidable opponent in the Chicago Bears.  The Bears missed out on the playoffs by one game last season and bring in one of the most potent offenses in the NFL.  Star Quarterback Jay Cutler rounded out by Matt Forte at RB, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey at WR, and Martellus Bennett at TE.  Forte was 2nd in rushing last season while Marshall and Jeffrey are two of the top Wide Receivers in the NFL.  A very "tall" task for a young Buffalo Defense that looked really good in the pre season.  Jeffrey, Marshall, and Bennett are all 6'4 or taller making them a matchup nightmare for just about anyone.  On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears struggle.  30th in overall defense, and last overall against the run should make it easy for the Bills backs to find holes and have huge games.  The Bears did add star DE Jared Allen who will take place of Julius Peppers who is now with Green Bay.  Allen has been a sacking machine throughout his career so it is important for Buffalo's young O-line to contain him as much as possible.  

Now let's get to Buffalo.  The Bills have had a turbulent off-season to say the least.  Between the on going sale of the team, to Jim Kelly battling through cancer, and finally to the horrid performances they displayed this preseason.  There was a lot of optimism going into training camp and for good reason.  For the first time in 15 years, our front office has made big moves to put this team in a position to do big things (something you didn't really see in Ralph's later years).  All of that optimism has gone south as of late because of how inept the offense looked throughout the entire preseason.  The defense looked very good at times but the offense is clearly what is holding back this team.  EJ simply must play better if Buffalo even has a shot at a postseason birth.  

Buffalo has never won at Soldier field and in their last meeting there, Chicago came away with a 40-7 win.  In order for Buffalo to avoid a similar result today they are going to have to run, run, run, run, run all over the Bears.  This has the potential to be a shootout with how easy it is for Chicago to put up points so look for Buffalo to ground and pound which will hopefully set up the play action pass.  Another huge key is pressure.  Buffalo must get to Cutler early and often if they want to stop them.  With one of the best D-lines in the league, the Bills can certainly do that.  The secondary is going to be feeling pressure all day with that outstanding receiving core, so that front 7 is the key to this game.  Lastly, the turnover margin.  It always plays a huge factor but on the road it is even bigger.  You lose it on the road and you almost certainly won't come away with a win.  That being said, EJ just needs to manage the game and that will give the Bills a good chance in this one.  Is this Buffalo's year? Is the playoff drought finally going to end? We will find out soon enough, enjoy the first week of games everyone!  

Why Bills fan's should be excited, but cautious

It's a brand new season in Western New York, and things feel different than last year.  This is the first year that the Bills will go into a season without the great Ralph Wilson Jr. and the team is currently up for sale.  There are speculations of the team possibly moving to Toronto or even Los Angeles in the future so the front office is feeling a lot of pressure to win, and win now.  This is the second season at the helm for Doug Marrone and he brings back most of the same coaching staff.  The Bills did get a new defensive coordinator in Jim Schwartz, former head coach of the Detroit Lions.  This offseason has been centered around two big problems involving the Buffalo Bills Defense: 1. the season ending injury to LB Kiko Alonso and 2. the issues involving DL Marcell Dareus.  The Kiko injury is certainly devastating to a young defense like this one.  They will have to rely on young players such as Preston 
Brown and Nigel Bradham to step into that role.  As for Dareus, he is facing a likely suspension from the league for his arrest of drug charges in early May.  Along with that, he also showed up to the first day of training camp out of shape so he is unable to practice.  This is not very good for a defense that is the strength of this team and led the NFL in sacks last season.  

The one area that the Bills needed help in defensively is the secondary.  Safety Jairus Byrd left and signed a new contract with the New Orleans Saints.  Competition for his job will be wide open with a lot of young talent led by Da'Norris Searcy.  Duke Williams, Jonathan Meeks, and Ron Brooks also have a good chance to earn a starting spot.  At cornerback, the Bills finally look like they have some depth as they picked up Corey Graham from the Ravens.  He will compete with Leodis McKelvin and Stephon Gilmore for the starting job.  Adding Brandon Spikes at middle linebacker will be huge because of his experience in New England.   I expect this defense to be better than last year even if there are some struggles early on adjusting to a new coordinator.  

Now, lets get to what everyone wants to talk about: The new and improved Bills offense.  Led by second year QB EJ Manuel, the Bills look to build off a promising first season together.  Stevie Johnson got sent to San Francisco because of the new guys in town, specifically 4th overall pick Sammy Watkins.  He has drawn comparisons by many to Julio Jones and its clear to see where that comes from.  He has incredible speed with the size to match, which is why he holds so many receiving records at Clemson.  Mike Williams is the other new guy we got in a trade with Tampa Bay.  Williams is a big physical receiver who provides a red zone threat on the perimeter.  It's hard not to get excited with all of the talent at the skilled positions.  Along with Williams and Watkins, the other Bills receiver threats include Robert Woods, Marquise Goodwin, TJ Graham, and TE Scott Chandler.  Marcus Easley and Kevin Elliott will also be competing to make the 53 man roster.  That's just at receiver, at running back we still have arguably the deepest backfield in the league with a great 1-2 punch in CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson.  The Bills also picked up red zone specialist Anthony Dixon and speedster Bryce Brown just to add even more depth to the 2nd ranked running game in the NFL.  A serious question to ask is how will Nathaniel Hackett manage to distribute the carries fairly to all four guys?  I guess we will have to wait to find out.

Fans should certainly be excited about what the Bills might be able to do this year.  We certainly are on the up swing and seem to be deeper and more talented than a year ago.  My only advice to you die hard Bills fans is to proceed with caution.  It has been 15 long, painful years since Buffalo has made the postseason, even longer since a playoff win.  It's been so long of a drought that my youngest brother wasn't even born when they last made the playoffs..... and he just entered high school.  Making the playoffs with a second year coach and QB might be way out of reach, or we could be a dark horse to make the postseason.  The first half of the schedule is very manageable, giving the bills a good chance to start off with a winning record.  The only rough patch comes in the last four games where three of those are against some of the NFL's best in Denver, New England, and Green Bay.  Another big factor will be injuries and how we deal with them.  

Our depth will come into play unlike the last couple of seasons and playing 8 actual homes games won't hurt the Bills either.  

My prediction: Buffalo Bills 8-8 

Western Conference First Round Preview

Seven teams finished with at least 50 wins this season and the only team that didn't, the Dallas Mavericks 49-33, would have been good enough for third in the East.  It is a conference that has been very competitive and tough to tell who its best team really is.  Some say its the Clippers, others OKC, and usually people just sleep on the team that always ends up being there, the San Antonio Spurs.  The one thing I do know about these first round match up's is that no one knows for sure who is going to come out of this conference.  So without further or do, here is your preview of the West first round match ups.

#8 Dallas Mavericks v.s. #1 San Antonio Spurs

Losing in heart breaking fashion in the NBA Finals was hard for the San Antonio Spurs to deal with, but now they are back.  The team that everyone always overlooks is back where they always seem to be, on top of the Western Conference.  They have the same core group from last year and they actually added a key bench player from Chicago in Marco Belinelli.  As for the Mavericks, they had to claw their way into the playoffs and fight off the Phoenix Suns for the last spot.  Led by Dirk Nowitzki, and Monta Ellis the Mavericks are ready to present a serious challenge to San Antonio.  The great thing about both of these teams is they play great team basketball and it will be interesting to see how they match up.  Covering Tony Parker will be a challenge for Jose Calderon and Devin Harris of Dallas.  The Spurs come into the postseason playing their best basketball of the season and they don't do it with one guy, its a very balanced scoring attack.  Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, and Boris Diaw have fit into their roles quite nicely and they seem to be poised for a deep playoff run.  I don't expect Dallas to be a serious test to the Spurs as their depth, shooting, and skill will prove to be too much for a thin Mavericks line up.  

My Prediction: Spurs win series 4-1 


#5 Portland Trail Blazers v.s. #4 Houston Rockets 

There is a lot of pressure on the Houston Rockets to go far in this year's playoffs.  If you look at it, Dwight Howard is always criticized for not being able to get it done in the post season and the same can be said for James Harden.  Both of these teams went through many ups and downs for the year and they find themselves facing each other in a series that appears to be even.  Star power is in favor of the Rockets, but Portland might have the better starting 5.  Its one of the best in the league and they are all very efficient led by LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard along with Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, and Robin Lopez.  Bench scoring is an advantage for Houston as they have Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, and Omri Casspi who are all very productive.  My favorite match up to watch out for comes at small forward with Chandler Parsons and Nicolas Batum.  Both players are 3-point shooters who can do other things offensively as well which makes them tough covers.  Expect a very high scoring series because both teams can put up a lot of points.  In the end, having home court and being a little bit deeper really helps Houston in this one.  It also helps to have probably the two best players in this series on your team in Howard and Harden.

My Prediction: Rockets win series 4-2

#6 Golden State Warriors v.s. #3 Los Angeles Clippers

No words can describe how fun this series is going to be.  Lob City v.s. the Splash Brothers. CP3 v.s. Steph Curry is definitely the matchup to watch in this one because they will have the ball in their hands most of the time.  This has the potential to be the highest scoring series because both teams average over 104 points/per game.  Blake Griffin has stepped his game up as of late and it will take a group effort from Golden State to stop him.  With center Andrew Bogut out for this series, David Lee and Draymond Green will need to step in and be affective.  It's going to be tough for the Warriors to keep pace as Los Angeles is probably the deepest team in the league. Their new additions that come off the bench include Hedo Turkoglu, Danny Granger, Glen Davis, and Darren Collison. That's not even including Jamal Crawford who is one of the best Sixth men in the league.  The Warriors will rely heavily on their starting line-up, especially Curry, Thompson, and Iguodala.  Last year, the Clippers failed in the first round and got a lot of criticism for it.  I don't see the same thing happening this year, expect Golden State to make it an interesting series but for the Clippers to end up on top.  

My Prediction: Clippers win series 4-2

#7 Memphis Grizzlies v.s. #2 Oklahoma City Thunder

Let it be known that Memphis is not the team the Thunder were hoping to play in the first round.  Last year in the West semi-finals, Memphis took care of an OKC team minus Russell Westbrook in just five games.  The physicality of the Grizzlies clearly affected the Thunder and I expect much of the same this time.  Kevin Durant is playing at a very high level right now and it looks like he is going to win the MVP trophy.  Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol will match up against Serge Ibaka down low while Mike Conley will go against Russell Westbrook.  It's going to be a series of pace since OKC wants to get up and down scoring a ton of points while Memphis would rather have the game be played in the 80s.  I expect the home team to win a majority of these games and for Memphis to make things really difficult for the Thunder.  However, I do expect the Thunder to come through and win this series. 

My Prediction: Thunder win series 4-3

Eastern Conference First Round Preview

Early in the season, the talk about the east was that it was a two team conference and it would be a cake walk for the Pacers and Heat up until the East Finals.  Well, now that the playoffs are here and we have a full season completed, it appears that the other playoff teams in the East will provide a huge challenge for Miami and Indiana.  So without further or do, here is your Eastern Conference preview for all four first round series.  

#8 Atlanta Hawks v.s. #1 Indiana Pacers

Both of these teams enter the postseason struggling to find their offense so don't expect too many of these games to be played in the 100's.  The Hawks come into the postseason with a costly injury.  Their starting center Al Horford will miss this entire playoff run with torn pectorals.  Staring in his place is Pero Antic who is still in his rookie season.  In order for the Hawks to be a serious challenge to Indiana, they will need huge production offensively from their guards Jeff Teague, Lou Williams, and Kyle Korver along with Paul Millsap down low.  With Indiana having a huge advantage inside, the Hawks will need to shoot the lights out from deep.  

The Pacers, who hold the East's top spot, have been playing under .500 for the last couple of weeks.  This is a good matchup for the Pacers because of their size advantage and having a deeper team.  Hibbert and West should have a field day inside but the real key is for Hill and Stevenson to match the production of the Hawks guards.  I don't believe that the Hawks have anybody who can stop Paul George either and he is going to be the best player on the floor both offensively and defensively.  In the end, the Pacers being at home and playing their style of defense will be way too much for a beaten up Atlanta Hawks team.  

My Prediction: Pacers win series 4-1

#5 Washington Wizards v.s. #4 Chicago Bulls

Probably the most interesting first round matchup in the East features a young and talented Wizards squad and a defensive juggernaut in the Bulls.  The loss of Derrick Rose for this matchup is huge because of the guard on the other side and his rise in stardom, John Wall.  Wall along side Bradley Beal gives Washington a steady backcourt that can create tons of problems for a Bulls squad who's biggest weakness is scoring at the guard position.  The Bulls get a bulk of their scoring down low with Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, and Taj Gibson.  Their energy defensively, positive rebounding margin, and ability to score will create problems for the Wizards and give the Bulls an edge in that area.  However, the Wizards do have some capable big men that can compete with the Bulls in Marcin Gortat and Nene.  In a matchup of offense v.s. defense, experience v.s. inexperience, and home court everything points to the Bulls winning this series.  Especially when you have an MVP candidate in Joakim Noah who is playing the best basketball of his career.  Call me crazy but I actually believe Washington will take this series.  Yes, their inexperience scares me, but their athleticism along with their three point shooting should be enough to beat a tough and gritty Bulls team.  

My Prediction: Wizards win series 4-3

#6 Brooklyn Nets v.s. #3 Toronto Raptors

If you told me at the start of the season that the Toronto Raptors would be the Atlantic Division champs, I would have laughed right at you and said very funny.  Looks like I'm the one looking stupid as the Raptors finished the regular season 48-34 good enough for third in the conference.  Their first round matchup is against their division rival Brooklyn Nets.  The Nets have way more playoff experience with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson, and Deron Williams leading the way.  Even though the Raptors have home-court, this is a huge factor in favor of Brooklyn.  The one main advantage Toronto has in this series is athleticism.  Fast break points and rebounding are two areas in which the Raptors should control over the course of the series.  While the Raptors use a philosophy of "big guys by committee," the Nets relied heavily on Brook Lopez for offensive production until he had a season ending injury which keeps him out of the postseason.  The Nets are going to need vintage KG along with Andray Blatche and Mason Plumlee to keep pace with Toronto inside.  I see this series being long with very close finishes and many twists and turns.  In the end, Toronto's perimeter defense is going to stifle Brooklyn and a home game 7 with a raucous crowd will prove to be the difference.

My Prediction: Raptors win series 4-3

#7 Charlotte Bobcats v.s. #2 Miami Heat

Sure, Miami beat Charlotte all four times this year so we should just expect them to roll over the Bobcats in the playoffs too right? Not exactly.... The Miami Heat come into the playoffs, just like the Pacers, struggling.  They finished their last 25 games under .500 and only two teams have ever won the title while doing that.  Charlotte on the other hand comes into the playoffs red hot, finishing the regular season 18-8. The Miami Heat are definitely the better, more experienced team but the reason I believe Charlotte will compete is because Miami's weaknesses are Charlotte's strengths.  The PG and C positions are the Heat's main weaknesses since they are a really small team.  This helps the Bobcats because their best players who can carry this team are center Al Jefferson and point guard Kemba Walker.  They also have a young, athletic SF in Michael Kidd-Gilchirst who can try and contain Lebron.  The health of Dwayne Wade will also be crucial because if he's at 100% then Miami is a totally different team.  Expect the Heat to pull through in this series, but they will be tested by big Al and company. 

My Prediction: Heat win series 4-2

The Final Four is here at last

One of the most exciting sports weekend's of the year is finally here! In about one hour, 75,000 people will jam into AT&T Stadium to see who will have the right to play for the National Championship on Monday night.  It has been a thrilling tournament full of crazy upsets, buzzer beaters, and games that have driven the loyal fans of these teams insane.  For most of these players, this will be their biggest basketball moment of their lives. Every bucket, every turnover, every loose ball is so crucial when you get this late in the tournament.  All four teams that are still remaining are playing their best basketball at the right time, and it should lead to some great games tonight.  So as you get ready to watch the action later, here is some information on the teams playing today and what you need to know.  



#7 Connecticut v.s. #1 Florida 6:09 p.m.  
The first of the two semi-final games tonight features a rematch from early December.  In that game, Connecticut stunned Florida at the buzzer with Shabazz Napier's put back jumper.  The Gators haven't looked back, winning 30 straight games with such ease that even the Miami Heat are impressed.  However, this will be a totally different game than the one from four months ago.  Both teams have improved a lot since that first match-up and it will be interesting to see who asserts their will on the other.  The No. 1 seeded Florida Gators (36-2) without a doubt have the most experience out of any of the remaining teams.  Billy Donovan is looking for his third National Title in eight seasons.  They start four seniors and one sophomore, (Young, Yeguete, Prather, Wilbekin, Frazier) and have been in the last three Elite Eight's so they are used to big games.  On the flip side, No. 7 seed UConn (30-8) doesn't have as much experience, but they have a lineup that has come up huge late in the season.  It's led by senior guard Shabazz Napier and juniors Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels with Niels Giffey and Phillip Nolan rounding out the starting lineup.  This is second-year head coach Kevin Ollie's first trip to the Final Four.  UConn is also the first 7 seed to advance to the Final Four since the tournament field expanded in 1985.  

How the Huskies handle the full court press of Florida is a big factor in this game along with finding enough scoring outside of Napier.  The Boatright-Frazier matchup is huge because the point guards, Wilbekin and Napier, will find a way to put up a lot of points, but which ever off-guard can have the bigger game will be huge for his team.  Florida will try to assert its will inside with Young and Yeguete, but UConn has solid bigs of their own to try and match the Gators.  Amida Brimah, the 7-foot center for the Huskies gives them a spark defensively and protects the rim.    Expect this game to be low scoring with a lot of half court sets.  Both teams are very strong defensively so good shots will be hard to come by.  

My prediction: Florida 65 Connecticut 60. 


#8 Kentucky v.s. #2 Wisconsin 8:49 p.m. 
John Calipari's Wildcats were expected to be here since they were ranked in the top five in the preseason but after an array of bad losses that quickly changed.  Losses to Arkansas (2x), LSU, and South Carolina lowered those lofty expectations for the tournament.  Well, it looks like those young talented freshmen found the magic touch and are playing their best basketball of the season.  Their starting lineup includes Aaron and Andrew Harrison, Julius Randle, Dakari Johnson and James Young.  Willie Cauley-Stein was their starting center, but he suffered an injury in the Sweet Sixteen that will keep him out of the Final Four.  Kentucky (28-10) is probably the most talented team out of the four, but its all about if that talent can come together.  It looks as though it has since they had huge upsets over Wichita St., Louisville, and Michigan.  

Wisconsin is usually a very defensively oriented team under head coach Bo Ryan, but this is definitely the most talented team he has ever had.  This is Ryan's first trip to the Final Four and it is well deserving because he is one of the better coaches in college basketball.  They average 73.5 ppg, which feels like about 100 when you play in the Big Ten.  The Badgers are led by freshman forward Frank Kaminsky, and sharp shooters Ben Brust and Sam Dekker.  Traevon Jackson and Josh Gasser provide stability at the guard position.  Wisconsin (30-7), a lot like Kentucky, went through a dry spell in the middle of the season where they had a hard time winning games.  The Badgers own the title of the most efficient team in the country shooting 46% as a team and only committing 8 turnovers per game, which is #1 in the country.  

When looking at this matchup, the thing that jumps out right away is the battle down low between Kaminsky and Randle.  They are the best players on their respective teams and lead them on both offense and defense.  Both teams can put up points, but the difference in this game is the Harrison twins.  The real reason that Kentucky is still playing today is because of their improvement in March.  They have matured beyond their years and look like a team destined to win it all.  If we see the Wildcat team we saw against Michigan expect another Kentucky win, if not Wisconsin could definitely lock up defensively and pull out this win. 

My prediction: Kentucky 71  Wisconsin 64

Dayton v.s. Goliath

Well, its the matchup everyone saw coming: Dayton v.s. Florida for a trip to the Final Four. Not exactly.  Florida was the favorite to bring home a National Championship coming into the tournament so for them to be playing tonight in the Elite Eight is no surprise.  Dayton on the other hand is a complete shocker to most.  The No. 11 seeded Flyers have had to claw their way just to get to this point.  Their first game in the tournament was a  60-59 upset of Ohio State followed by a 55-53 victory over the heavily favored Syracuse Orangemen.  These were two very impressive wins for a team that has gone unnoticed up until this week.  The last team to beat Dayton not named St. Joe's came back on January 25th against Rhode Island.  The Flyers added another tournament win this past Thursday when they took care of Stanford 82-72 in a game where they just dominated in all aspects offensively.  This run by Dayton is reminiscent of the great cinderella stories made by VCU, George Mason, and Davidson.  

Next up for Dayton is your number 1 team in the country: The Florida Gators.  On paper this is a complete mismatch against a team who has a lot more size and defends better than just about anyone in the country.  Beating the Gators will take a lot more than what it took to defeat the Buckeyes or the Orange.  The Gators will full court press for the entire game, they have great perimeter/interior defenders who are all athletic and can drive opposing coaches nuts.  It's also worth mentioning that Florida is a very deep team and very efficient offensively to go along with the teams incredible defense.  They are arguably the most complete team in the country, which is why they were deserving of the number one overall seed.  Dayton can certainly pull off the upset today but here is what they will have to do.  Since the Flyers lack the size to compete with the Gators inside, they will have to get big games from their guards Khari Price and Vee Sanford.  Dayton has a lot of depth as well since they play 11 players regularly in their rotation.  Athleticism is another huge strength for both teams and a big factor in this game will be who can control pace and get easy buckets in transition.  The longer Dayton can hang in the game, the more pressure it puts on a team that really hasn't dealt with that much pressure at all this season.  There are many interesting matchup's in this one, but I think the one everyone needs to take a serious look at is the battle of the bigs, Kavanaugh-Young.  Kavanaugh needs to stay out of foul trouble since the Flyers are thin on their front line.  Florida is expected to roll over Dayton, and they easily could do that, but if there is anything we can take away from this year's tournament it is to expect the unexpected.   

This Week is for the Little Guys

Championship week is one of the best weeks of the entire College Basketball season.  There will certainly be some great games in  the big conferences like the ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12 (All of which will probably send at least six teams to the Tourney).  But this week is all about the conferences and teams more importantly that the average fan might not know anything about.  All week long, every single non-power conference championship game will be shown somewhere on the ESPN family of networks for the entire country to watch. The one thing I've learned over the years watching these games is to expect the unexpected.  Unlike the bigger conferences who send multiple teams to the dance, these smaller conferences only get to send one, making it do or die, winner take all.  This sets the stage for fantastic finishes, storming  the court, and some March "Madness."  
There are 32 conferences in College Basketball, with only six of those being power conferences.  Along with these six, there will only be a few other conferences that send multiple schools to the tournament.  So over the course of this next week, most of these conference champions will be the only representatives from their conferences.  These championship games will have so much emotion to them that it will feel like their Super Bowl.  The winning teams always go crazy and jump around uncontrollably like a little kid in a candy store.  For the teams who don't find a way to win, it is easy to see the frustration on their faces.  To get that close to the dance and fall short is hard to deal with.  It's truly something that you just won't get with the Big Ten because half of those teams are already going and don't have to improve their resume's this week.  
We have already seen two big upsets as Tournament teams from last year Belmont and FGCU lost at home in their conference championships over the weekend.  Florida Gulf Coast became the first 15 seed to ever make the sweet sixteen last year, but will not be going this time around.  In their places is Eastern Kentucky and Mercer.  Expect plenty of other upsets to take place this week and especially when the tournament gets going next week.  This year especially since parity in college basketball might be at an all-time high.  There is no team this year where you look at and say that whoever they play will be an automatic win.  Could this finally be the year a 16 beats a 1? We almost got that last year when Southern lost to Gonzaga by only six points.  I'm not saying it will happen, but don't be stunned if it does.  So as you sit back and watch these conference championships, think about the importance of these games for teams like Weber State, Delaware, Robert Morris, and all the other small schools who want to see their name called sunday night. It's going to be a great couple of weeks, so as former WR Terrell Owens once said, "get your popcorn ready."